As you give Clara her orders, you cannot help but notice the smile on DJ Contesto's face return. You wonder about the source of such a smile, then you notice that Sewaddle seems to be glistening with energy. "Now Sewaddle, show them the strength of your Chlorophyll ability that they were so kind to activate, show them now!"

Sewaddle moves with incredible speed, quickly whipping its head through the air, sending another blade of wind slicing through the air towards Clara. It slams head first into Clara, the sheer velocity behind the attack sends Clara tumbling towards the edge. Princess has her Combee companions prepared to catch Clara, however the Vulpix manages to cling to the platform. Scrambling back to her feet, Clara prepares to let out another scorching wave of heat. However as she goes to attack she feels her body lock up, the impact of the previous attack having shocked her more than you thought.

Sewaddle begins to flail around once more, sending a wave of bug energy rippling over Clara once more. Her special attack is decreased even more, things were starting to favour the Sewaddle. Displeased by this latest speed bump, Clara's eyes begin to glisten with ghostly energy. Rays of crackling light splinter from her eyes, catching the Sewaddle off-guard. It begins to teeter around, obviously now suffering from confusion. To make matters worse, the Light Screen surrounding it suddenly fades, leaving the bug type defenseless.

"It seems our Light Screen has faded Sewaddle, not to worry though, our opponent has once again provided us with a solution to our problem. Synthesis!

Sewaddle begins to glisten as it harnesses the increased sunlight. Beads of energy begins to condense and flow into the small leaf covered bug, healing its wounds and removing a lot of the pain Clara had inflicted.

Big grits his teeth. "Ok! Now Clara! Give 'em two more heat waves now that the light screen is gone and before they heal too much!" Big quickly orders. We just gotta power through. That double weakness will catch up eventually, and maybe Clara will be lucky enough to get a critical hit to undo the special attack drops. He thinks to himself.

Despite her decreased special attack, Clara seems determined to push on, the fading of the light screen beneficial to her cause. As the Sewaddle finishes its recovery technique, Clara bathes it in another wave of scalding heat. The bug type winces in pain, its leaves appear singed and despite having just healed itself it seems doubtful that it could hold on for much longer.

"Strike swiftly Sewaddle, Air Slash again if you would, then use your bolstered speed to sink another Air Slash into them."

Sewaddle's head leaf lights up once more as it swings its head around, sending another powerful blade of wind slashing through the air. It slams into Clara, almost knocking her off of the platform in the process. She quickly scrambles back to her feet as the Sewaddle is on her again, preparing to strike another devastating blow. However as it goes to attack, its mind loses focus, courtesy of the confusion Clara inflicted. This falter gives Clara the perfect opportunity to put an end to this match up. She lets loose another powerful wave of heat. The Sewaddle attempts to stand strong against it but is eventually overcome and slumps down on the platform, unconscious.

"Sewaddle is unable to battle!" Tiffany raises the her left arm, signalling Clara to be the winner of the match up, "DJ Contesto, your next Pokemon please."

"Alas, great effort Sewaddle", DJ Contesto has a somber look on his face. Suddenly he goes from somber to smiling as the beat suddenly changes, becoming much more aggressive and upbeat. "Now you must face the fury! Beedrill, prepare to drive through them!"

Contesto sends another Pokeball flying through the air, it bursts open and releases a bright yellow beedrill into the arena. It darts through the air, jabbing with its glistening stingers, it looks to be rather powerful.

"Great them with no kindness Beedrill, show them why you should be feared! Drill Run then Focus Energy"

Big pumps his fist as the sewaddle falls over. "Great job Clara!" He shouts but before he can give himself much time to celebrate he is soon faces with his new foe, the beedrill. Probably the hardest pokemon to take down among the three. At least theoretically, no nice double weaknesses to take advantage of, along with more moves than he was expecting. Not to mention that horrible, spine chilling buzzing. It might as well be nails on a chalkboard to Big. Wait did he just say Drill run!?! The trainer fights through the buzzing and whips out Clara's pokeball. "Come back Clara, return!" He quickly recalls the Vulpix. He then throws out Brittany's pokeball. "Come on out Brittany, and start us off with a Stun Spore. And then follow up with your Astonishing Rollout!" He calls out to the mushroom pokemon.

With Contesto's Sewaddle dispatched, you celebrate the small victory while keeping the larger one in mind, it wasn't time to get ahead of yourself. This Beedrill looked far more threatening than the Sewaddle had, it was time to change things up and cover your bases. Holding up your Pokeball you recall Clara, a red light envelops the Vulpix and pulls her back into the ball to rest. You quickly select Brittany's Pokeball from your belt and toss it out to meet the Beedrill. The Foongus spins around as she lands on the platform, displaying a small amount of flare as she eyes off her opponent.

"Another quick change, I sense a lack of faith perhaps? Or maybe you're just a strategist? Either way there is no escaping our fury." DJ Contesto refused to falter, the edgy change in music seemed to support him.

The Beedrill zooms in towards Brittany, making a literal beeline towards the Foongus as ground energy begins to spin around its stingers. It drives through its target, sending Brittany tumbling backwards, luckily coming to a stop as she nears the edge of the platform. As the Beedrill attempts to arc back around she quickly retaliates, expelling a cloud of glistening gold spores. The Beedrill shakes violently as the spores enter its system, stunning and paralysing the Bug type.

With her opponent slowed by the spores, Brittany looks to extend her advantage as she begins to spin. Rock energy forms around her as she approaches the Beedrill head on. A sudden change in speed and direction sends her flying into the air, slamming into the Beedrill for an astonishing super effective strike. The Beedrill doesn't appear to be phased too much by the attack, likely due to its relatively low power but it also doesn't seem to have resulted in a flinch. The Beedrill takes some time to focus its energy, seemingly glistening as it becomes much more threatening. The matchup seemed fairly level so far, both sides had landed some damage, the Beedrill was paralyzed but it was also now capable of exploiting your weaknesses.

"Strategy is probably the closest thing to what I'm doing!" Big jokes back, hoping to hide his insecurity. "Keep up the rollout Brittany! Hit it as many times as you can!" Will commands. With the Stun Spore in place the best thing to do is keep rollout going, If all goes well it will lead into taking down ledyba as well. He plots out.

Things seemed to be going your way, if Brittany could continue her spinning assault than you would blitz through Contesto's Beedrill and Ledyba and the badge would be yours. However a part of you knew that it wasn't going to be that easy, Contesto wouldn't be the Gym Leader if he didn't know how to fight his way out of the corner.

Brittany continues to spin, picking up momentum as the rock energy surrounding her continues to grow. The Foongus springs off the platform and propels herself into the paralysis addled Beedrill. It buzzes in pain as Brittany lands the super effective attack before dropping back down to the platform where she continues to spin and gain momentum.

"Ha, I see now that you intend to try and just steamroll us but I think you will soon realize that the path to victory is not so straight forward. Beedrill strike now, Air Cutter twice."

The Beedrill suddenly seems to glow with an intense vigour, this is what Contesto had planned all along. A quick slash at the air sends blades of spinning flying energy straight towards Brittany. The blades move incredibly fast and strike Brittany as she goes to turn, striking her side and sending her tumbling off the platform with a critical hit! Princess and her squad of Combee race into action and catch her just before she hits the ground. Princess quickly lifts her back up before placing her back on the platform but it seems that she lost control of her Rollout in the process. What's worse is that attack seemed to do a tonne of damage to Brittany, more than you could have expected.

"You're not the only one with some nice abilities on your Pokemon. Beedrill has the hidden ability Sniper, which when paired with Focus Energy and attacks with a high critical hit chance makes for a deadly combination." DJ Contesto was smiling now, things had finally swung back his way.

Brittany pushes through the pain as she flips back onto her top and begins to gather rock energy once more. She springs up to strike the Beedrill but the damage is much less than before and it would take time for the Foongus to build up power again. There was little time to think on that though because the Beedrill was now preparing another Air Cutter. The Beedrill lashes out with its stingers once more, slicing at the air as it sends the projectiles towards the Foongus. You can almost sense Brittany's fear as the spinning blades come towards her once more. Luckily for her this time she avoids a critical hit, lessening the damage she takes considerably but it is a powerful strike nonetheless. Brittany was looking rather ragged after that exchange, you were unsure how much longer she could last.

"It is starting to look worn out Beedrill, go in for the final blow. Cut and then another Air Cutter." Contesto was on a roll now, he was in his element and things were going in his favour, could you stop him now?

But Big had put it together the second the beedrill fired off the first attack. "Brittany watch out!" He cried but it was too late. He winced as Brittany got hit off the platform, knocking her out of her rollout. "Clever combination." Big admits. "But we aren't out yet. Brittany, keep your distance with Hidden Power! And then throw off their groove with another astonishing rollout, see if you can interrupt that air cutter!" He may put the odds in his favor but he can't rely on luck forever. Even with focus energy crits don't always happen, and the paralysis has to act up at some point.

You remain composed despite the obvious threat of the Beedrill's critical combination. Brittany senses your stalwart will and takes comfort in it, she would fight through this, she had to. The Beedrill began to descend for its next assault, its stingers now glistening with energy. But as it closes in its body seems to seize up, courtesy of the stunning spores from Brittany. It struggles to maintain its flight, let alone attack, Brittany seems to have finally gotten her share of luck. She makes good use of the opportunity as she distances herself, a hidden power begins to grow within her as she does so. Orbs of light blue energy begin to swirl around her, a thrust from her stubby little arms sends them scattering towards the Beedrill. It screeches in pain as the super effective strike hits it, although it seems to jar it out of its paralyzed state, for now atleast.

Now free to go on the attack again, Beedrill has Brittany in its sights and is looking to put the Foongus down. Not wanting to make herself an easy target, Brittany begins to spin again, rock energy quickly forming around her. She picks up speed and leaps astonishingly fast, slapping into the Beedrill, hoping to flinch it out. Beedrill recoils from the super effective blow but it is far too persistent at this point. A flick of its stingers sends spinning blades of flying energy into Brittany as she descends back towards the platform. The impact is precise and powerful, another critical hit sends her flying over the edge. Princess quickly moves into position to catch her, but when the Vespiquen puts the Foongus back on the platform, Brittany doesn't move.

"Brittany is unable to battle!" Shouts Tiffany, a look of concern in her eyes, "next Pokemon from the challenger please."

You look over at the Beedrill, it looked worn and battered, it surely wouldn't take much more to bring it down but as long as it was conscious it posed a threat. "Your Foongus fought valiantly Big, not many Pokemon can stand against my Critical Combination for that long. Let's see what else you have to offer."

Big hangs his head a bit solemnly as he recalls Brittany. "Sorry Brittany, I guess I overestimated us for our first real battle together. We'll get 'em next time." He says to the pokeball. He also has another theory of to why the rollout didn't work as well as his hometown's old gym leader's did. Miltank is much bigger than his tiny foongus, maybe until she evolves he should work on her speed for the move..? Later, there's a gym battle to win. He reminds himself and throws out the pokeball. "Plan B it is then, Howard come on out!" He calls summoning his first capture. "Brittany fought bravely for us, let's do her justice with a scald and then a confusion!"

You recall the unconscious Brittany, apologising for overestimating her capabilities. She had fought well though, the Beedrill was a mighty opponent and she had gone toe to toe with it, it likely wasn't going to last much longer which was a real credit to the Foongus. Placing her Pokeball back on your belt you retrieve Howard's Pokeball and toss it out to the platform. It bursts open and the Psyduck enters the battle once more, he remains calm as always, despite the magnitude of the situation.

Immediately looking to put an end to the Beedrill's reign of terror, Howard boils water in his belly, before belching a stream of scald hot water at the Bug type. Beedrill screeches in pain as it is seared by the scalding water, a burn develops across its abdomen. The red burn mark was a sign of relief, you knew that the burn status would cut the Beedrill's attack strength in half.

"Alas Beedrill, a burn doesn't do us any favours my friend. It seems our song is nearly over but let's leave a parting gift, Cut." It seems DJ Contesto has conceded that his Beedrill is nearly finished but he signals for it to leave a mark on the battle. The Beedrill hones in on Howard, its stingers glisten and elongate as it gathers energy around them. It slashes hard across Howard's chest, the Psyduck grimaces as the Beedrill arcs back around. Luckily for Howard, the attack wasn't a critical hit and with the burn the Beedrill's attack power was reduced considerably. It was now time for him to put an end to the bothersome Bug type. Howard slaps both hands on his temples, his eyes light up with psychic energy as he latches onto the Beedrill with his psychic powers. The Beedrill is shaken by the psychic assault, as Howard releases it, the Beedrill plummets from the air. It crashes into the platform in front of Contesto. It attempts to rise off the platform, its fighting spirit drives it to continue fighting. Even the strongest of fighting spirits will fail eventually and Beedrill's finally gives out, the Bug type collapses, unconscious. Howard looks back at you, giving you a confirming nod. It appears the Psyduck is confident that he can handle things from here.

"Beedrill is unable to battle", shouts Tiffany, "DJ Contesto, please return Ledyba to the battlefield." Tiffany does well to conceal her excitement. She can see that you have the upperhand, your victory was suddenly in sight.

"Well fought my fearsome friend", Contesto recalls his Beedrill, the music transitions into a more slow and sullen tune. Contesto only had one Pokemon left and you had already faced it. The battle would conclude how it started, Ledyba verse Psyduck. Contesto hurls the Ledyba's Pokeball into the air, the bug type lets out a cheerful cry as it enters the battle once more. The music suddenly transitions into a more upbeat track, a nice way to conclude the battle. "This is it Big, the final push for victory. Let's give them a stunning finish Ledyba! Comet Punch then a Thunder Punch!"

“Alright great job Howard!” Big says with almost relief. “It’s one to two so let’s wrap this up! We’ll start with an ice beam and then see if your confuse ray can stop that thunder punch!” From what I remember Ledyba isn’t a very offensive Pokémon but we still need to watch out for that thunder punch He thinks to himself.

With only Contesto's Ledyba standing between you and your first gym badge, you start to feel confident that you can bring this battle to an end. However the DJ's Ledyba didn't seem intent on losing, it seemed determined to give all it could. The bug type moved with surprising speed, zooming in with fists raised. Howard was soon met by a barrage of punches, the multitude more than making up for the relatively low power of each punch. The Psyduck groaned, this Ledyba sure did pack a punch. Howard had a few tricks of his own though, his bill snapped open as he released a crackling lance of ice energy, nailing the part Flying type in the underbelly and sending it tumbling back through the air.

Having created a bit of space, Howard prepares to push his advantage, a confusing ray of light bursts from his eyes. The Ledyba is quickly overcome by the dazzling display of light, it appears to be flying quite erratically. Despite that it seems to be intent on attacking, flying in towards Howard, one of its fist-like feet begins to crackle with electricity. The Ledyba takes a swing but instead of hitting the Psyduck it somehow manages to clock itself in the head. The Ledyba lets out a groan of pain, the confusion was certainly going to be an issue for it.

Big pumps his arms, getting almost uncharacteristicly excited. “Come on Howard we almost have it! They are on the ropes! Use the opening from the confusion to hit it with your hidden power follow up with scald and then finish it with one last Ice beam!” He calls out to his first captured Pokémon.

With Contesto's Ledyba struggling with confusion, Howard finds himself in a great position to exploit it and seal victory. Tapping into a hidden power, he fires orbs of fire energy at the rattled Bug type, dealing a nasty super effective hit that leaves it reeling.

"Strengthen your resolve Ledyba! This match isn't over yet!" Contesto shouts out to his Pokemon, hoping to steer it towards success."Let's go with a Thunder Punch, then pepper it with a Swift before dealing a final blow with a final Thunder Punch!"

It seems as if it's trainer's belief has helped clear the Ledyba's mind as it zips back in towards Howard. The Psyduck is stunned as the Ledbya slams a thundering punch into his stomach, the electric typed attack deals a nasty super effective blow. While the bug is in close range though, Howard retaliates, firing a boiling hot burst of water at the Ledyba who screeches in pain. A nasty burn develops across its chest, cutting its attack stat in the process.

Despite everything seeming to go against it, the Ledyba remains in high spirits, firing a cluster of star like projectiles that have Howard stumbling backwards. The Psyduck now finds himself at the edge of the platform, with a rebounding Ledyba coming straight at him, electricity surrounding one of its feet. Narrowing his eyes, Howard let out a jagged beam of ice energy. The energy lanced straight toward the Ledyba, striking it head and causing it to crash into the platform. It remained still and unmoving, Howard slowly made his way over to the Bug type and checked to be certain, it was unconscious!

"Ledyba is unable to continue. That means the challenger Big is victorious!" Tiffany holds up the flag, signalling your victory.

Brittany, Clara and Howard gained 2 levels

"Congratulations Big, you fought incredibly well", DJ Contesto recalled his Ledyba, "meet me at the front of your gym and I will give you what you deserve."

Recalling Howard, you quickly race back to the front of the gym, eager to be awarded your first gym badge. Contesto is waiting there for you, a grin on his face. He holds out a badge for you, as well as a TM."Here you go Big, the Hive Badge as a symbol of your victory and the TM Silver Wind." Digging into his pocket, Contesto pulled out what appeared to be a boat ticket and some money."$6000 and if you take this boat ticket to the local port they will take you to do the island challenges at the Sevii Islands. . I haven't looked into it much myself yet, but I'm sure someone there will be able to give you more information. It was great meeting you Big, don't be a stranger, you're welcome back any time."

Big bites his lip as the Gym leader continues to give confident orders to his confused pokemon. He didn't even falter, even given the chance his pokemon couldn't hear his orders. He thinks to himself. His fists clench more and he holds his breath when the Ledyba very quickly breaks through the confusion and lands two last blows before Howard finally fells the Bug pokemon with the last Ice Beam. Big lets out his giant sigh of relief as Howard comes over to his Trainer. "Great job buddy." He says almost panting. He nods at Contesto to let the gym leader know he would be at the front of the gym soon. Once he gathers himself he recalls Howard after a good head pat heads out to meet the DJ. He gratefully accepts the badge and rewards. "Thank you, Mr. Contesto we had a great time battling you too." He says looking at the ticket. "Sevii Islands huh?" He contemplates for a minute. "I wonder if there are any interesting pokemon over there." He shakes his head. "Anyways, we will definitely have to battle again when I have a full team." He says. "But for now we should head to the pokemon center. Thanks again!" He say heading to the pokemon center to heal his pokemon and ask around about the Islands.

Your journey across Kanjohto has taken you to many different places and earned you some fiercely loyal allies. With their help, you've garnered a considerable number of achievements under your belt, culminating with a glorious victory over a Gym Leader!

Now in possession of the prestigious Hive Badge, as well as a boat ticket to the elusive Sevii Islands, the next chapter of your adventure begins to unfold before your eyes: your next destination will be the One Island!

At the Pokémon Center, once your Pokémon have been healed back to normal, Nurse Joy is kind to point you towards the local port. According to her, the ship you're bound to is the S.S. Progress, a massive vessel and the only one capable of making the trip from the mainland to the archipelago regularly. After preparations are completed, you thank Joy and head over to the port as instructed.

It takes you a little over twenty minutes to reach the docks on foot, and from there, locating the right ship is simple: your eyes immediately lock on a gigantic white cruiser, visibly worn from countless voyages in high-sea but sturdy-looking and no doubt reliable. It seems you're right on time too, as the last passengers are just boarding when you arrive, and a quick dash allows you to enter the ship on time. Five minutes later, you find a place on the front deck, facing the wide blue ocean, and the S.S. Progress sets sail.

-----

The mainland now long behind you and out of sight, there is nothing but water all around you as far as the eye can see. The ocean is calm, the sun is warm and the cries of Wingull fill the afternoon air. Just as you start to relax, someone touches your shoulder.

"Heya buddy. You the one they call Big, by any chance?"

You turn to see a young man about your age, with short dark blue hair and sporting a black and light-gray sweater and matching sweatpants. He may not look like much at first, but a good Trainer knows another when they lock eyes - and this one is undoubtedly an Ace Trainer.

"Bit of a strange name if you ask me," he continues with a smile. "Compensating for something? Nah, I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'! I'm Roy Kessler, from Castelia."

He brings two fingers to his lips and whistles; shortly afterwards, with a powerful roar, a large Drampa descends from the skies above and flies right next to the ship.

"That over there's Wulong, my oldest partner, literally," he jokes. "Sorry to bother you like this, but I heard you caused quite a commotion earlier and won a Hive Badge. The number of Trainers who managed to make it that far nowadays can be counted in one hand, y'know? I kinda... had to see what you looked like."

He chuckled, then pointed north, where an island was coming into view.

"We're both gonna take the Island Challenge, right? Who knows, maybe we end up facing each other. I'd like that, Big. Well... smell ya later, like they say in Kanto!"

He waved goodbye and went to his chamber, likely to prepare for disembarking. And you, come to think of it, should probably do the same.

-----

The S.S. Progress finally docks at One Island port. Looking around, it's easy to see why Knot is considered the capital isle of the Sevii chain - it seems that even here, so far away from the continent and after everything that happened to the archipelago, Knot and its people endured. The port is noisy and lively, and there is a number of locations you can head to next. Remembering what Nurse Joy had told you about the various places to see in One Island, you must now choose where to go next...